Stay Up to Date with the Friendship Lab Project
The research is startling: friendship decreases anxiety and depression, increases our lifespan, buffers us against addictions, and raises our happiness levels. All those coffee dates, weekend hikes and late-night chats help us face our adversities, choose our best paths, and discover who we are. And yet 1-in-4 of us has no close friends, a rate
When You’re Invited to the Palace, Don’t Turn Down the Offer
It was a day we won't forget, my wife Professor Merryn Voysey getting invited to Buckingham Palace. There was just one problem - I wasn't allowed in with her!
Those Who Survived Auschwitz Barely Speak of it. How Then Can We, So Glibly?
Auschwitz often comes up in religious conversations. Christians use it to show what happens when a nation forgets God and nationalism takes His place. Others use it to argue an all-powerful God couldn't exist. But when survivors barely speak of it, how can any of us turn it into an argument at all?
We Don’t Bow to Zeus Anymore, But We’re No Less Religious
Wander Athens' Ancient Agora marketplace and you'll find altars to yesteryear's gods. We might not bow to Zeus or sacrifice bulls on the Acropolis anymore, but are we any less religious today? I don't think so.
Humility Hasn’t Always Been a Virtue. Here’s How its Meaning Changed
No one appreciates arrogance. In fact, along with kindness and generosity, humility may be our most-cited quality of a good person. All this is fascinating when you consider that humility hasn’t always been a virtue. Here's how its meaning changed.
There’s a Word for What I’m Experiencing: Wintering. Maybe You’re Feeling it Too
I came across a helpful word recently: wintering. Author Katherine May uses it to describe those moments when life turns cold through crisis or loss and we find ourselves living at a different, slower pace to everyone else. As winter is a time of retreat and hibernation for much of the natural world, wintering is the
How to Combat Conspiracy Theories
From QAnon to Flat Earth to Covid-19 ‘Plandemics’, conspiracy theories of all kinds are proliferating right now, dividing families and communities, and putting the health of many at risk. It's imperative that we learn to detect and avoid them. In this video I outline how.
Let’s Talk About Identity
Each of us play many roles in life, which each contribute to our identity. But what if you can't take on the role you always wanted, or lose one that you've played so well? Thankfully, there is an identity available to each of us that can never be lost. I had known about this identity,
The Best Books I Read in 2021 (and One I Destroyed)
Here it is! The 2021 edition of my annual wrap up of books read, books endorsed, and even books destroyed (now there's a first). As I note each year, my choice of reading isn't based on release date, although some listed below are new books for 2021. And for those wondering why I publish this
Reflect with Sheridan
Interrupt the rush. Take a breath. Reflect There used to be a home improvements store near me that had a big green button in one of its departments. If no assistant was present, you pushed the button, and if you weren’t served within a minute, you got a discount on your purchase. The store’s marketing team